Seed collection, propagation to perpetuate forests urged
2:21 AM
Vernon Joseph Go
Since
most native trees grow from seeds, a non-government organization called on the
public to collect seeds and propagate them to contribute to the creation of
native tree forests.
Rowena Bandola-Alensonorin,
executive director of the Integrated Development unit of the Ramon Aboitiz
Foundation Inc. (RAFI) pointed out the urgent need to replace trees cut down
for construction purposes after some parts of the country experienced the
tragic effects of flashfloods and landslides.
“The primary importance of trees in
the ecosystem is to reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and prevent soil
erosion. For many people, they see trees as beneficial for building houses,
furniture, tools, and for firewood; hence, these demands have significantly
reduced the number of trees in the forests,” she noted.
One way to address this is to
collect and propagate seeds, which are considered “the next generation of
forests.”
Alensonorin said that it is equally
important for the people to know not only the names of the native trees but
also how to collect the seeds and germinate them.
“The
scarcity of this knowledge might have led to the proliferation of exotic tree
species, such as mahogany, gmelina, and ipil-ipil
that are now growing in our forests. If this will continue, we will not only
lose these animals, but also our highly valued trees such as narra, lauan, and mangkono that
have been valued here and abroad for their toughness and strength. Our forests
should be mainly composed of indigenous trees to provide food and habitat to
our native animals,” she explained.
Producing
quality trees starts from the quality of seeds germinated. These seeds must
only come from healthy mother trees or those trees that bear fruits and produce
seeds. Germinated seeds should be nurtured in a well-managed tree nursery that
provides a suitable area for these seeds to grow into plantable seedlings for
use in reforestation initiatives.
The
RAFI Native Trees Nursery collects seeds and wildlings (seeds that germinated
underneath or near the mother tree) all over the Visayas region. The nursery is
also willing to receive seeds and seedlings from people who would like to
donate. The nursery has an existing 150,000 seedlings of 212 native tree
species and is located in Barangay Busay, Cebu City.
The RAFI Native Trees Nursery is a mechanism of
the GREENIN Philippines Program of RAFI to create forests composed of native
trees.
